Every experience design firm uses a set of common tools to begin the process of uncovering design opportunities. First, we perform or review user research to understand who the users are and why the experience will be important to them. Second are personas. This process of fleshing out a personality and context on top of the normally generic demographics found in a basic target audience profile can certainly help everyone on the project envision themselves in the user’s shoes, so to speak. Also included are user journeys — the detailed, step-by-step accounting of how we get a user from Point A to points B, C, D, etc.

At our firm, we’ve built another step into our initial ideation process: We write stories. These stories are detailed narratives that walk through the user journey, step by step but annotated with context, motivation and expectation. Why take the time and effort to add this extra step? Because it has helped us to more quickly and effectively create truly unique and delightful user experiences. How so? Read on.

Stories convey vision without undue influence on design.

You can’t unring a bell. And likewise, it’s nearly impossible for a designer to unsee a sketch or wireframe when it comes time to imagine a radically new user experience. During the initial ideation and brainstorming phase of development, a well-crafted story can convey all required or desired points of interaction without unduly limiting a designer's imagination.

By nature, when hearing a story, we all begin to picture the missing details of how the explained action might manifest in physical form. And a talented designer, without the prior influence of a set of complex wireframes, will more often than not envision something elegant and simple. If their vision is incomplete, ultimately requiring the inclusion of greater detail or functionality, they are at least starting from a vision with a level of elegance they are inclined to protect.

Stories document emotional expectations.

If a technical spec conveys how an experience should be physically coded and deployed and a functional spec conveys the interactions that code should facilitate, a story can be thought of as the emotional requirements documentation. What points in the user journey should elicit joy or delight? What points require thoughtful decision-making? Which offer relief?